Chapter 205: Butterfly Dancing Among Peach Blossoms

"Even if the old mistress and I could occasionally look after her."

"We couldn't watch over her all the time."

The woman said, "The reason is that the Shen family lady had too good a temper, which is why those servants took advantage of her, becoming increasingly excessive."

The girl said coldly, "According to you, my mother suffering here was all her own fault?"

The woman did not answer, only shook her head gently.

The girl couldn't be bothered to talk to her further and asked, "Where is Steward Xu?"

Steward Xu was the main culprit behind the withholding of wages.

The woman said, "He was just outside, supervising the move."

The girl frowned and looked toward the manor gate.

When she arrived, she had closed the gate tightly to prevent anyone from escaping.

In such a short time, Steward Xu couldn't have run out.

But she didn't notice.

The expression of the woman behind her was unnaturally calm.

The other female servants were still shaken, unable to say a word.

But this woman, while speaking, had been calm and composed throughout.

Even with corpses everywhere and the pungent smell of blood.

The woman's complexion hadn't changed in the slightest.

Staring at the girl's back.

The woman's gaze suddenly revealed resentment.

The next second.

She lifted her long sleeve, grabbed a sharp blade, and thrust it fiercely at the back of the girl's head!

"You killed my son, I want you to pay with your life!"

The woman's expression was ferocious, the veins on her wrist bulging, clearly using all her strength!

*Clang! *

The sound of metal clashing was deafening; the blade flew from her hand and fell to the ground!

The woman's hand was numbed by the shock, her arm trembled, and her eyes were filled with disbelief; her originally calm expression showed panic for the first time!

"Forgot to tell you, I passed the Saint Selection ceremony."

The girl turned around, said softly, raised her arm, and Zhaoming long sword swept across horizontally!

*Chi! *

The blade swirled, the woman's upper body was sliced open, and she stared fixedly at the girl, falling limply to the ground.

That sharp blade, having clashed with Zhaoming, was already cracked inch by inch, scattered by her hand.

The girl looked down at her: "The people I just killed were all evil."

"The remaining men in the manor, I didn't kill, leaving them to hide."

"Your son died."

"It only means your son did plenty of evil."

As she spoke.

The remaining female servants, sprayed with blood, were terrified into a daze, acting as if insane.

The girl ignored them, instead holding her long sword, expressionless, and walked toward the inner courtyard.

"Come out."

"Stop hiding."

Her voice was very light.

But to Steward Xu, who was trembling behind the rockery, it sounded like a demon claiming his life, causing the pants of his lower body to become soaked without him realizing it.

"Don't come over, don't come over."

He tried his best to shrink his body, muttering continuously in his heart.

Hearing the girl's footsteps gradually moving away.

Steward Xu breathed a sigh of relief, forced himself to calm down, looked at the high wall of the manor, and his eyes lit up.

He tiptoed, bypassed the rockery, and wanted to find a spot to climb over the wall.

"Heaven is truly helping me!"

Steward Xu grabbed a ladder, excited, and hurriedly climbed up using his hands and feet.

Reaching the top of the wall.

Steward Xu looked back at the deathly silent courtyard and couldn't help but shudder.

Dozens of meters away, on the ground of the pavilion, the girl was looking up, watching him coldly.

But then.

He realized he was at a completely safe distance, and a ferocious grin appeared on his face: "You little wench, still want to find me?"

"Dream on!"

"I'm jumping over the wall now, and will report to the authorities immediately!"

"Then we'll see how you die!"

Steward Xu sneered, turned around, and jumped toward the outside of the wall.

After jumping down, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

His line of sight had become very low, actually only reaching the feet of an ordinary person.

"How did I get shorter?"

He struggled to turn his head and looked up.

The scene in his eyes left Steward Xu stunned.

His body was still sitting on the wall.

From some unknown moment, he had actually fallen apart, piece by piece.

While puzzled.

He suddenly realized an extremely terrifying fact!

"No!"

"My body is on the wall."

"Then how am I on the ground now?"

Steward Xu tried to walk, but found it impossible!

He was now merely a head!

Realizing this, Steward Xu's vision went black, and he immediately lost consciousness.

In the moment before his death.

A few wild dogs ran over, barking incessantly, drool dripping from their mouths.

This was the final image in Steward Xu's memory.

"I am a tailor, after all."

The girl said to herself softly, "Since I can weave clothes, I can naturally take them apart."

The meager Qi she had, used to execute the "Fate Weaving" killing move, was now completely exhausted.

But against ordinary people, it was still more than enough.

She put away her sword, reached out to push open the door, and walked into the pavilion.

Several men were huddled in the room; seeing the girl, they looked as if they had seen a ghost, faces deathly pale, scrambling to hide everywhere.

The girl ignored them, instead walking to the inner room, looking at the large bed.

The bed was large and very old.

The old woman leaned against the bed frame, her complexion ashen, deathly aura permeating her brows.

"Shen family girl."

She looked at the girl, a miserable smile appearing on her face.

As she spoke, the old woman picked up a gray-white handkerchief, covering her mouth, and coughed violently.

Before long, it was soaked with bloodstains.

"Truly retribution."

The old woman stopped coughing and wiped her mouth.

The wrinkles on her face were like the bark of an old tree, stacked in layers.

"Back then, I was blinded by greed and took your mother's things."

"I should have guessed that this day would come sooner or later."

She sat up tremblingly, her palms withered like branches, clutching a wooden box tightly.

Hearing this.

The girl's gaze turned slightly cold, looking at the wooden box, and asked: "Is this my mother's thing?"

The old woman nodded, her voice hoarse: "She was fleeing famine with you, passing through the village, begging for water at every house."

"Your mother was penniless; all she had on her was this box."

"My husband was kind-hearted and gave your mother a bowl of water."

"I was overly curious, rummaged through your mother's bundle, saw the exquisite craftsmanship of the wooden box, and became greedy."

"That's why I gave orders to let your mother eat her fill and drink enough water, then quietly took the wooden box."

Hearing this.

The girl's expression was gloomy, and she tightened her grip on the sword hilt: "So, my mother lost the box and had no other choice but to stay in this village, is that it?"

The old woman smiled miserably: "This thing is a karmic obstacle!"

She held up the wooden box, her fingers trembling, her eyes glowing involuntarily.

Deep within her turbid pupils was nothing but obsession and greed.

"I don't know why."

"Although I can't open it."

"But as long as I hold it, I never want to let go."

"If I don't see it for a moment, I feel flustered."

"Over these years, I've rarely left the room, always guarding it."

While speaking.

Her coughing became more violent.

Pools of black blood soaked into the handkerchief.

Even so.

The old woman's fingers remained locked, still not letting go of the box.

*Chi! *

Sword light flashed!

The old woman's head tilted, her arms dropped limply, her pupils lost focus, staring at the wooden box until death.

The remaining few men, hiding on the side, shook like chaff, screaming in terror!

"So, you were an evil person too."

The girl tore off a piece of cloth, wiped Zhaoming clean, walked forward, and took the wooden box into her hands.

Grabbing the wooden box.

Deep within the girl's heart, a sense of closeness surged.

"Don't kill me!"

A man in the corner of the room cried out, "I gave your mother pastries!"

Another man, also deathly pale, trembled and said, "I scolded those servants, telling them not to bully your mother!"

The girl glanced at them, ignored them, and walked straight out.

Using clean water and imbuing it with Qi, she cleaned the box until it was spotless.

Its true appearance was revealed.

The wooden box was crafted extremely well, looking luxurious and exquisite.

From its gaps, strands of aura radiated outward.

"These auras are Qi."

The girl's expression tightened slightly.

She had already opened her Shenque, so naturally, she could sense the existence of Qi.

The old woman guarding the wooden box, her mind obsessed, was also because of this Qi.

Opening the wooden box also required Qi.

The old woman certainly didn't have this ability.

After all, people who passed the Saint Selection ceremony and opened their Shenque were rare even in a ten-mile radius.

Although not long ago, tens of thousands of local creatures participated in the Di Yue Academy entrance examination.

But the scope of the "Saint Selection ceremony" was aimed at the entire Di Yue Academy world.

Under such a ratio.

It was very difficult for ordinary people to understand "Qi."

The funeral in the village was still continuing.

The girl took the wooden box, closed the gate tightly, and walked toward her home.

No one knew that the wealthy family behind her had been almost completely wiped out.

The remaining female servants and men also looked insane, clearly having suffered a huge shock.

*Creak. *

Pushing open the half-closed wooden door.

The girl walked into the wooden house; it was empty, with herbal medicine paper packets by the pot, and the stove covered in dust.

"Mother."

The long sword fell to her feet; she knelt on the ground, leaning against the cold stove, her expression painful.

Unknowingly, tears were already streaming down her face.

The girl lay on the stove, sobbing incessantly, her ragged clothes soaked through.

She cried for a long time.

She lifted her face, teary-eyed.

"My mother's things."

The girl wiped away her tears, forced herself to calm down, and looked at the wooden box.

With a nervous heart.

She channeled a wisp of Qi and poured it into the wooden box.

*Crack! *

With a crisp sound, the lock on the outside of the wooden box opened immediately.

But the lid still couldn't be lifted.

The girl stared at the wooden box, suddenly struck by inspiration.

She took Zhaoming long sword, cut her finger, and let a drop of fresh blood fall onto the wooden box.

*Crack! *

Another crisp sound!

She trembled as she pried the lid, and sure enough, it opened at once.

There were very few things inside.

Only a piece of silk cloth and a jade pendant.

The silk cloth was empty, looking very ordinary.

The girl, having gained experience, channeled her meager Qi and poured it into it.

A great deal of information that shocked her mind emerged one after another.

Seeing the end.

The girl's face turned deathly pale, and her slender body began to tremble uncontrollably!

Deep in her gaze, a bone-deep hatred surged wildly!

Her mother was not from here.

But a noble lady from a great family by the Li Sea.

For a great family.

Its direct descendants participating in the "Saint Selection ceremony" and starting cultivation was almost a mandatory path.

But her mother was a typical noble lady, gentle by nature.

As a young girl, she loved poetry, calligraphy, and painting most.

Usually, she rarely went out.

Only reciting poetry with two or three female companions and playing with embroidery.

However.

This peaceful life was completely shattered when her mother was sixteen.

That year, she went out with her companions, under the protection of servants, to sketch by the Li Sea, and met a man.

That man was severely wounded and dying, his limbs crippled, washed ashore by the sea, on the verge of death.

The other noble ladies, remembering their teachings, acted as if they hadn't seen him.

It was her mother who was kind-hearted, letting the servants go into the sea to save the man.

Just one glance, and it was a lifetime.

Her mother hid it from her family, carefully nursing the man back to health.

In the end, she even took out her own dowry.

That dowry was very generous, specially prepared by the Zhang family for their daughter, filled with scarce spiritual resources.

Originally, even if her mother didn't cultivate, she could have relied on this dowry to marry into another great family and live a stable life.

But that man, after recovering, quietly left without a sound.

When he left, he even took all the remaining spiritual resources from the dowry, leaving not a single bit behind.

After the man left, her mother fell ill.

A servant couldn't bear it, stopped listening to her mother's orders, and finally reported it to the Zhang family head.

With the Zhang family's foundation, if the dowry was gone, it could be prepared again.

But what made the family head furious was that the Zhang family's only daughter was pregnant.

As a noble lady, unmarried but pregnant.

If this got out, the Zhang family would surely lose face.

The Zhang family guarded strictly, not letting the matter spread.

The family head even gave a death order: the bastard child in the daughter's womb must not be kept!

But her mother defied the family order, insisting on giving birth to the fetus.

In the stalemate, the fetus grew larger and larger.

The Zhang family didn't allow this to happen, but her mother threatened to die, stating that if forced to miscarry, she would die immediately.

The family head felt sorry for his daughter and knew her character, so for a time, he had no way to deal with it.

Not long after.

The Zhang family finally found a way, using a cold ice secret technique to temporarily freeze her without harming her mother.

Her life aura was completely sealed.

The pregnancy of the fetus also stopped.

Sixteen years ago.

The Zhang family head died of old age, his son took power, and her mother was released.

After Mother came out, she first stayed in the mourning hall, guarding Father's coffin, and wept bitterly for a long time, staying there all alone.

Then she left a letter, stating that from then on, she would sever ties with the Zhang family, and then, while pregnant, she left the Li Sea.

"Mother."

The girl leaned against the stove, her shoulders trembling, clutching the silk cloth, tears falling again.

Her mother wandered all the way, begging for food and water, arriving at Ling Shui Prefecture, and still gave birth to her.

To raise her, her mother suffered too much hardship.

The original noble lady actually endured half a lifetime of hard labor without a word.

Washing clothes, doing menial work, scrubbing dung buckets.

Doing it for over ten years.

The Zhang family's face was indeed preserved.

The matter never spread from beginning to end.

She also grew up under her mother's hard-working care.

The only one who suffered was her mother.

Every time she thought of something, the girl's gaze grew colder.

"If it weren't for me, Mother could have died long ago and found relief."

She gripped the silk cloth tightly, her knuckles turning white, biting her lip hard until fresh blood seeped out.

"You people, all of you deserve to die."

"And you."

The girl's gaze was bone-chillingly cold as she looked at the jade pendant in her hand.

On the jade pendant, the character "Shen" was carved.

She stared at the jade pendant, her fingers trembling, her soul trembling uncontrollably due to the intense hatred.

Deep in her heart, bone-chilling hatred surged like a tide, rising to the heavens!

On the silk cloth, her own name was written.

Similarly, the man's name was there too.

But these two names, from childhood to adulthood, her mother had never told her.

Poor people don't deserve names.

Her mother called herself "Shen family lady," and she was the "Shen family girl."

The girl stood up, wiped her eyes, and her expression became eerily calm.

She lowered her gaze, looking at the corner of the silk cloth, but tears welled up in her eyes uncontrollably again.

There, a line of small characters was embroidered, words her mother had woven herself and left for her.

"My daughter Shen Qingchan, do not miss me, do not miss me."

These eight short characters made the girl tremble all over, tears streaming down like a fountain again.

She extended her ragged sleeve, trying to wipe away the tears.

But no matter how she wiped, the tears seemed endless.

Don't know how much time passed.

The young girl finally stopped crying.

She put away the silk cloth, returned the jade pendant to the wooden box, wrapped it in a bundle, and tied it to her waist.

Lowering her body.

She took Zhaoming long sword into her hand.

"The name Mother gave me is Shen Qingchan."

The young girl lowered her gaze, looking at the frost-white sword blade, murmuring softly.

"Shen Shen Qingchan."

She lifted her face and smiled.

Her black hair fell like a waterfall, dyed by the golden-red sunlight outside the window, reflecting the girl's fair, painting-like face.

Since opening her spiritual gate, Qi had washed away the filth.

Her original bone structure and appearance gradually emerged.

Only her eyes were like an ice cave pool, frost-cold to the bone.

"Mother."

"I can't do it."

"I can't do what you said, 'do not miss me'."

"Those who deserve retribution, not one will escape."

The young girl whispered to herself, tied her long sword, and walked out of the wooden house.

The direction she was heading.

Was the border of the Great Zhou, by the Li Sea.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 206 =====